We had the good fortune of connecting with marian and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi marian, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
All the alternative paths seemed precarious. Pursuing anything other than the arts was not only counterintuitive but felt dangerous—a betrayal of a cornerstone of my personality.
From a very early age, I gravitated towards the creative fields. At age five I had an active imagination and wanted to weave worlds with words, so I began by exploring literature and prose. At age nine, I sculpted a head and a dog with modeling clay. My mamá, impressed by the proportions of my models, told my papá that I needed art lessons. At age thirteen, I wanted to learn to play the piano. At age eighteen, I decided to pursue an artistic practice that explores the intersection of literature, music, visual arts, and filmmaking because it seemed like the only reasonable choice.
Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My artistic practice is characterized by weaving between modular & interdisciplinary.
I began my exploration of the arts through the written word and later grew into the visual and audible realms. In a lot of ways, my art still does that. It’s a cycle. Once I find my subject, I capture it in a painting, a poem, a piece—whatever comes naturally. Over time, that subject, whatever it was, takes shape in some other vessel. With enough simmering, a lot of these come in groups of three: the poem, the sound experience, and the visual element. Some of these are broken up—like a physical painting, a recording of a piece, and a poem. Some morph together into a piece of multimedia.
These latter pieces, which constitute my multimedia work—I refer to them as “experiences”—are often the hardest to work on because I’m working on three layers of artistry at once, so a lot of the time it feels like juggling. It represents an active effort to produce multiple fruits from a seed that’s barely putting down its roots. At the same time, I don’t want the piece to be rushed. It’s a complicated relationship—to nourish an idea while hoping that its fruit grows faster than its roots can handle—but it’s extremely rewarding to see the fruit grow and ripen.
Working in an interdisciplinary way like that is difficult, but these past few months it has been my primary focus. I’m very excited to expand upon these experiences—which I already love working on—to make them more immersive and sensuously stimulating. I am currently exploring how augmented reality can play a part in that. I am also interested in space and how we relate to it, so installation art has been whispering to me enticingly. I can’t wait to see how all of these elements come together and interact with one another.
The most important thing that I have learned through this modular understanding of my work is to trust the process. The road may twist and turn suddenly at times, but it continues. I often have to remind myself to trust that the work that I am doing is part of the process and that good fruit cannot be rushed. My relationship with my creative output comes down to that: taking the steps and trusting that the road lengthens behind me. I find solace in that.
I’m also deeply passionate about vulnerability in art. This is reflected in my research, too—I talk a lot about the possibility of connection through a work of art and the many ways in which art can be a vessel for our humanity. Vulnerability in art is the reason I am an artist in the first place—I am related to my artistry in the same way that I simply am. It is an intimate relationship. That is what fuels my artistry: authenticity & vulnerability. For as long as I’ve considered myself an artist, I have said that the main goal of my work is to strike a chord in someone, anyone. If one person is moved, then I would consider my work a success.
Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
San Diego truly has just about everything, but my favorite way to enjoy a day starts with going to a museum or some art event. Balboa Park always has something going on and the science museums are quite interesting, but there are also tons of other events and markets happening all over town.
In terms of food, the menu would have a bit of everything—báhn mi in Miramar, pizza in Little Italy, Mediterranean in Little Italy, burgers in North Park, ramen in UTC, Thai in the college area, and Indian in either Miramar or Hillcrest. Those first three can make for good picnic meals. I love to get something to go and watch the city from a mountain somewhere. Mt. Soledad and Presidio Park are a couple of my favorite spots. Both of those are good spots for a sunset picnic—although a San Diego visit wouldn’t be complete without a sunset and bonfire at the beach.
Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Mis papás, mis tíos y mis primis— ¡gracias! Neither my passion for the arts nor my courage in pursuing an unpredictable path would have been possible without mi familia.
Website: carlamarian.com and words.carlamarian.com
Instagram: @marian.cuevs and @art.by.marian
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDeMPG9Flrw-2x-bi-67E8A
Image Credits
D’Cherion